It’s been a long time since The Terps and Wildcats clashed on the gridiron.
The pair first faced off in 1970, and routinely competed into the early ‘80s. Since becoming an FCS school — in 1985 — Villanova and Maryland met just once. The Terps won that contest, 31-14, in 2007.
Saturday’s game will be the twelfth meeting between the teams. Maryland leads the all time series, 9-2, with all the games being played in College Park.
The Terps enter the weekend after besting Virginia, 27-13, on the road last Saturday. Maryland ended the first half of the game trailing then rallied after the break, scoring 20 points while holding the Cavaliers scoreless.
“I thought our team did a tremendous job of answering and responding the right way,” said head coach Michael Locksley in Tuesday’s press conference. “They took it one play at a time. I mean, that was a tough, tough, gritty win for us.”
Villanova is undefeated at 3-0 this season.
The Wildcats are coming off a 14-13 victory over Towson in which they ran for 235 yards. Redshirt freshman Isaiah Ragland accounted for 141 of those yards, setting a new career high. The performance earned him CAA Rookie of the Week honors.
Villanova’s two touchdowns came via passes from graduate student Connor Watkins, who threw for 116 yards on 14 completions. He also added 65 yards on the ground.
Watkins has thrown for 453 yards and four touchdowns through three games this season, to the tune of a 127.50 passer rating. He has yet to throw an interception.
“The quarterback is the guy that makes their offense go,” said Locksley. “They have a really extensive RPO package, quarterback run package, the zone read stuff. And the guy’s been there six years, he’s been a three year starter, he’s the guy that makes them go.”
The Terps are undefeated against FCS opponents since they joined the Big Ten conference in 2014. Maryland has won nine consecutive games against the Wildcats and haven’t lost a non conference matchup since 2019.
Maryland leads the nation in turnover margin (+9) and is tied for the 41st best scoring defense in the nation — allowing 15.67 points per game.
Dante Trader Jr. won Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against Virginia. The senior defensive back ended with 11 tackles, one pass break up, and one pick that he returned for 17 yards. Trader Jr. is one of four Terps to have an interception this season.
Match-up to watch:
Terps’ front 7 vs Villanova running game
Villanova has the 13th ranked rushing offense in the FCS averaging 204.3 yards per game. The Wildcats are averaging over six-yards per carry led by the tandem of Ragland and Watkins. The pair is responsible for 454 of Villanova’s 613 rushing yards this season.
Maryland has held its opponents to 3.6 yards per carry this season, allowing a total of 416 yards rushing. The Terps haven’t allowed a 100-yard rusher this season and held UConn to under 100 yards as a team.
Maryland is tied with Georgia for the 46th best rushing defense in FBS.
“Our defense needs to just make a more, bigger emphasis on staying in our gaps, being able to three count the offensive lineman, not being able to jump out of our gaps so that our linebackers behind us could, you know, work and do their thing,” said redshirt senior Quashon Fuller on Tuesday. “We have a lot of faith in our front seven … I feel like we have a lot of belief in our guys in the box to be able to do their thing.”
